Supporting Rachel Dolezal

"She has to be crazy," they said. "Who would pass themselves off as being black?!" Those were the words said by many throughout the week after Dolezal, head of the Spokane, Washington NAACP, was discovered to have lied about her race for years. Dolezal's parents were seen on news outlets around the country stating that their daughter is indeed not black, and also produced the birth certificate proving that very point.

Rachel Dolezal told KREM reporter Shawn Chitnis, "Actually, I don't like the term African-American; I prefer black. So if asked, I would say, yes, I consider to be black.

The NAACP leader explained that everything she is being questioned about -- her race, her children and her biological parents -- are "a very private matter." Dolezal has two adopted brothers who are black, as well as a son who is of African-American descent. She obtained legal custody of her adopted brother, Izaiah, after he sought emancipation from Dolezal's biological parents. Dolezal also refers to Izaiah as her son. "I am his mom," she told KREM. "I do see myself as [that]. He's not my brother. That's not our relationship.

She has also revealed that she doesn't consider her biological parents her "real parents." Dolezal does not speak to them due to an ongoing legal issue; and perhaps that's why she was interrogated on the street by a news investigator.  

Instead of the focus being on the "crazy white woman" who tans her skin and wears afrocentric wigs and blowouts to make herself look black; certainly credit must be given to the woman who raised two black men on her own and heads a local NAACP chapter. One can easily say that this white woman has done more for the black community than 100 Caucasian and Black people would do in a their entire lifetime. 

So, let's simply leave the white/black lady alone. Surely, she has plenty of work to do.